By Mehreen Zahra-Malik | LAHORE, Pakistan LAHORE, Pakistan Pakistani real estate giant Rafi Group made a ten-fold profit last year from its sale of hundreds of acres of land in the remote fishing town of Gwadar, acquired soon after the government announced plans for a deep-sea port there. The windfall came after 12 years of waiting patiently for the Gwadar port to emerge as the centrepiece of […]
For the Arab world’s largest country, February 11, 2011, was the moment the 21st-century began. Hosni Mubarak, after decades in power, was finally pushed to step down after millions of people took the streets. Many things were born in Tahrir Square that day. Hope for the future. A new politics led by youth. A revolutionary current, as H A Hellyer puts in his new book A Revolution Undone. […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. A few months ago Vice founder Shane Smith fronted a superior Vice-HBO documentary, “A House Divided,” that detailed the issues, tactics and rancor that dominated Barack Obama’s relations with a Republican-dominated Congress. Now he sees “a perfect storm” that involves […]
March is a major month for Amazon Prime members. That’s because brand new content is coming to Prime Video, with the emphasize on new original series and movies. These include the anticipated season 2 premiere of Hand of God starring Ron Perlman as Judge Maximum. And while viewers will get to see how the Judge truest gain back his sanity in this final season, Amazon is getting […]
The military’s stance softened somewhat in 2015, when an army court ruled that veiled relatives of soldiers could enter military grounds. The army’s cultural shift was also reflected in last July’s failed coup attempt. The government claims that the putsch was organized by an Islamist faction within the military, an institution previously assumed to be staffed mainly by Kemalists — followers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder […]
By Alan Baldwin | SILVERSTONE, England SILVERSTONE, England Vijay Mallya, the one-time billionaire who co-owns the Force India Formula One team, said on Wednesday Indian authorities had no grounds to extradite him from Britain and he would not be leaving. India wants Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon was charged with conspiracy and fraud over a loan to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. It […]
DUBAI: Combining the capabilities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia can create historic opportunities for their peoples and the whole region, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE vice president and prime minister, and ruler of Dubai, WAM reported on Tuesday.He was speaking at a joint retreat on Saadiyat Island, attended by some 150 Emirati and Saudi officials to discuss the best ways to […]
I’m an innovation evangelist with SAP. Each year, I present at about 50 conferences around the world, talking to business and IT audiences about the impact of the latest technologies. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I’ve recently noticed a change. When I talk about topics such as analytics and big data, audiences are clearly looking for lessons learned that they can apply to […]
Snapchat Spectacles are now available online, relieving the interested buyers from tracking down SnapBots or waiting for them to come to your city. The Snapchat Spectacles have been designed as a quite self-explanatory device. However, there are some simple tips and tricks which a spectacle user must know in order to smoothly snap and upload. Light Circle On The Spectacle The light circle on both the sides of the […]
Conceived by legendary Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz as a single novel of about 1,500 pages, The Cairo Trilogy is a timeless work of modern Arab literature, with themes, characters and ideas that are familiar and ring true almost 60 years after it was published. “The Cairo Trilogy is a work on a par with Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks,” says Dr Rasheed El […]
If eight years under Obama rule, 6 of which included Republican majorities in Congress, taught us anything, it’s that Presidents have fairly broad authority to govern through executive orders and rules changes implemented at the 100’s of government agencies responsible for overseeing our every move. Fortunately for the Trump administration, this broad Presidential authority extends to immigration laws and, despite his recent defeat in the 9th Circuit, […]
Google recently launched Android Wear 2.0, an operating system for its smart watches. The entire OS has been refined and revamped. To help with the launch of the new OS, Google and LG collaborated and came up with two Android Wear devices: The $250 LG Watch Style and $350 LG Watch Sport. The approach is similar to the Nexus program, where Google would work with a phone […]
Verizon has announced that it will buy Yahoo’s core business after all, but at a $350 million discount since the internet company had two massive cyberattacks. The Verizon-Yahoo deal has been in the cards for a good while now and the companies have been negotiating the terms of the agreement. After two massive Yahoo data breaches came to light last year, however, the deal was not that […]
ABU DHABI // Combining the capabilities of Saudi Arabia and the UAE could create historic opportunities for the region, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said on Tuesday. “Through our integration, solidarity and unity, we can protect our gains, enhance our economies and build a better future for our people,” the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai said at a joint retreat on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, attended by […]
ROME Michele Emiliano, the leftist president of the southern region of Puglia, said on Tuesday he would challenge former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for the leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD), which faces a damaging split. Emiliano, 57, made the announcement at a meeting of the PD’s executive where he launched a stinging attack on Renzi, who resigned as party leader on Sunday to pave the […]
By Fergus Jensen | JAKARTA JAKARTA Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will visit Jakarta and Bali on the Indonesian leg of his Asian tour next month, bringing 1,500 people in his entourage including 10 ministers, Indonesian officials said. “This is a very historic visit for us,” Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the king would be in Indonesia from March 1 to 9. He […]
Ann Ravel on Sunday fulfilled her promise to quit the Federal Election Commission by May. In doing so, Ravel — who directed her resignation letter at President Donald Trump and including unsolicited advice for new president — leaves behind an agency the outspoken Democratic commissioner says she at once considers “essential” to American democracy and as useful, in its current state, as “men’s nipples.” But Ravel tells […]
There is no sign that the ongoing rumble among carriers are winding down. Verizon underscored this after it announced a new cheaper prepaid plan bundled with its own data bucket, making it simpler for prepaid customers to avail of the Big Red’s services. New Verizon Prepaid Plan The new Verizon prepaid plan costs $40 and comes with 2 GB data cap. This has increased the company’s prepaid offerings […]
Trespass Against Us is something of a departure for Adam Smith, a director best known for his work on music videos and stage shows for electronic act The Chemical Brothers, and the cult British TV teen drama Skins. For his big-screen debut, he has abandoned his pop-music roots in favour of an ultra-realistic study of life in a community of travellers in Gloucestershire, England. “I wanted to […]
By Simon Carraud | BEIRUT BEIRUT French far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting on Tuesday with Lebanon’s grand mufti, its top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter. Le Pen, among the frontrunners for the presidency, is using a two-day visit to Lebanon to bolster her foreign policy credentials nine weeks from the April 23 first […]
The bad old days of golf courses being perceived as water-guzzling eyesores are being transformed as more and more clubs adopt sustainable practices that enhance biodiversity while conserving water to create a fairer way to play. Matthew Perry has no trowel in his hands as he tends to the turf at Dubai Creek golf course. There is no wheelbarrow or shovel – just an electronic device plunged […]
Submitted by David Stockman via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity, General Flynn’s tenure in the White House was only slightly longer than that of President-elect William Henry Harrison in 1841. Actually, with just 24 days in the White House, General Flynn’s tenure fell a tad short of old “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”. General Harrison actually lasted 31 days before getting felled by pneumonia. And the circumstances were considerably more benign. It seems that […]
The UAE Navy on Sunday signed a multi-million-dollar deal to buy US-based Raytheon Company’s rolling airframe missiles (RAMs) for protection of its ships. RAM Block 2 is a supersonic, lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget weapon that is designed to protect ships against anti-ship missiles, helicopters, aircraft and surface craft. The amount of the deal was not disclosed amount. Chris Davis, president of Raytheon International, UAE, said: “The UAE wants […]
Travis Kalanick has it all worked out. Just ask him. He sees the future, and what it looks like is pretty different from what most people experience every day. Not surprisingly, it all starts with Uber. With a ride-sharing system, says the 40-year-old bachelor and CEO of the transportation company that has gained global notoriety, one car can be shared by 30 people. “The cost of that […]
